Twin Fairies
by daydeamer09
Summary: When Lucy chose a job, Gajeel didn't expect that his past could come back haunting him. And what's worse is that their new member seems to remind him so much of it. Meanwhile, Gray couldn't get to trust the new member despite everyone already warming up to her. She seemed harmless, but what they didn't know is that under her mask lies a dark secret that could destroy the world.
1. The Request

**AN: Hey guys! This is my first fan fiction so please review! I already edited it since the first format really sucked… so please review and enjoy! ;p**

**Twin Fairies**

daydreamer09

**Chapter 1:** The Request

It was another normal morning for Lucy Heartfillia at the guild, trying to pick a request with a big reward that could pay her rent for the next few months. Numerous requests were posted on the board but none of them gained her interest.

From the corner of her eye she spotted Natsu and Gray fighting again.

"Squinty eyes!"

"Droopy eyes!"

"Dumbass!"

"Stripper!"

Lucy sweat dropped when the verbal fighting turned into a physical one, wreaking havoc in their surroundings. She sighed with relief when Erza managed to stop them from damaging the guild by punching both of them in the face. However, what she didn't expect was Natsu flying towards her and landing on top of her, injuring her as well.

"Boy, Erza is sure strong…" Lucy said as she struggled to get Natsu off of her.

"Aye sir…" replied the dragon slayer

While Lucy helped Natsu stand up she noticed the request paper that landed shortly on Natsu's rosy hair.

"Eh? Natsu, what's that on your head?" the blonde mage took the old piece of paper before Natsu could even reply. As Lucy read the request her eyes widened, she finally found a request that would suite her.

"This is it! I'm going to take this job!"

"What job? Let me see that –" the pink-haired dragon slayer quickly took the paper from Lucy's hands and read it out loud.

"Help us! Save a princess from an enchanted black witch. Warning: witch possesses extremely powerful magic that could kill you in less than seconds!? Why do you want to go on a job like this?"

"Because of the reward, look!" Natsu continued to read the rest of the request.

"Rewards: 1 000 000 Jewels, a golden key from the zodiac and the princess herself?!"

"Wow. That's a lot of reward. The princess must be something." Gray said as he read the request

"Lucy, are you interested in the princess?" asked Natsu.

"No silly! I'm interested in the money and the golden key!"

"What does the princess look like anyway?" Gajeel asked curiously, swiveling the bar chair to face the trio.

"It says here, the picture is at the back." Gray pointed out while looking at the request.

Natsu hurriedly flip the paper revealing a picture of a tall, blonde princess with fair skin and a plum face. Natsu, Gajeel, Gray and Happy were suddenly starstrucked that their eyes turned into hearts and started drooling all over the picture.

"P-Pretty" they all said in unison.

"Lucky for me, I'm gonna help Lucy and be the first to save the princess!" Natsu proclaimed.

"What makes you think you'll be the first? I bet I could save her faster than you." replied the Ice mage.

"Who says you're coming droopy?"

"Got a problem with that, squinty?"

"Lucy and I are the only ones going, got that?"

"It's a guild request dumbass anyone can go, besides, with that birdbrain of yours you probably don't even know how to get there!"

"Stripper!"

"Dumbass!"

And then the fighting started.

Lucy sighed "What a pain." She grabbed Natsu by the scarf and started dragging him out of the guild "I don't care who gets to come with me, as long as I do this job and get my reward the better! Let's go!"

"Ack! Lucy! W-wait a sec.!" Natsu choked out before she let him go. He straightened and fixed his scarf and shouted with renewed enthusiasm. "Yosh! Now I'm fired up!" grabbing Lucy's hand he raced out of the guild with Lucy in tow. "Let's go Lucy! Happy!"

"Aye sir!" replied the blue exceed following them.

"Hey, Natsu! We're not done yet!" yelled Gray

From the bar Erza silently watched the bunch and sighed inwards. She knew with Natsu's sense of direction they'd be lost the moment they step into the forest. Shaking her head she called out to the Ice mage. "Gray! Follow Natsu and make sure he doesn't mess things up again" she said in her commanding voice.

"What?!"

"You can bring Gajeel if you want, just in case" she added

"What makes you think I'm gonna bring metal head along huh?" he asked, surprised that she could even suggest that.

"Gajeel has a good sense of smell just like Natsu's, he can track him down easily by following his scent, so its best if you should bring him along"

"No way! You don't get to tell me who I want to bring along!"

"Fine, then who do you want to bring?"

"Uh-well… Uhm… Juvia!"

"W-What?! Gray-sama wants Juvia to accompany him? Juvia is so happy!" shouted the water-woman while dancing around the guild with hearts in her eyes. "Gray-sama! Juvia will take care of you ~ 3!"

"On second thought, maybe not" he muttered.

"Alright then, you can bring her along too" replied Erza.

"Wait a sec.! Why don't you follow Natsu yourself?"

"I have some important business to attend to."

"No way! You're just gonna meet up with Jellal!"

"I said go!"

"Y-yes ma'am!" immediately he ran out of the guild with Juvia following after him.

Just as Gajeel was about to follow after the duo, Erza called after him. "Gajeel…" he turned back to look at the warrior mage and rose an eyebrow "Hm?"

"Take this." She handed him another poster similar to the one that Lucy had. "It came with that request poster. Apparently, Lucy forgot to ask Master's approval. Lucky for her she didn't pick an A-class job."

Gajeel took the paper without question knowing full-well not to provoke her.

"Follow them and make sure they don't get into trouble."

"That's a bit hard, don't you think?" he smirked. "Knowing that pea-brain, he could attract all kinds of trouble."

"That's why I'm sending you after them, do you understand?"

"Yeah. Sure" he put the poster in his pocket and whistled for Pantherlily. The black exceed ran to his side and the both of them made their way out of the guild.

"Oh, and one last thing" Erza called out. The black-haired mage stopped on his tracks. "There'd been rumors around here recently, about someone stealing magic from mages. It could be related to that witch in the poster. Anyway, be careful out there."

"Gihi." He grinned "Sounds like fun to me" and went on his way.

When he finally caught up with Gray and Juvia, the ice mage asked "Where to?"

Gajeel took the crumpled paper from his pocket, inspected it then put it back.

"East Forest"

The sunlight shone bright over his eyes turning the dense forest into some sort of mirage.

"(Sniff) Hmm… we better walk quickly, they're moving pretty fast, I don't think I can catch up with their scent."

"Juvia is so happy that Gray-sama picked Juvia to accompany him!"

"Nah… I just couldn't think of anybody else other than you, besides, you're much more comfortable to be with than that Iron head"

"Hey! Don't call people names just like that!"

"Juvia is so overwhelmed! Juvia don't think her heart could handle so much happiness!"

"Shh! Quiet down!"

"Gajeel-kun, is there something wrong?"

"I think I heard something"

When Gajeel took another step, a rope caught his ankle and the bent tree that was holding it stood upright that sent him hanging upside down while another rope got loose making a rock tied with ropes fall from the tree and a giant net that was hidden from where Gary and Juvia where standing sprang upwards catching the two mages and left them hanging in mid-air. The three mages struggled to get out of the trap but nothing worked, the ropes were just too strong for them to cut. Just then a familiar laugh was heard behind the bushes.

"Hehehehe…. Think you can sneak up on us and steal the princess now do you? Well you better think again 'coz we're a lot smarter than you!"

"Put us down doofus! We're not here to steal the princess from you!" exclaimed the Iron dragon slayer while swinging hard trying to cut the rope tied to his ankle.

"Then why are you all following us?"

"Erza sent us to keep an eye on you!"

"Hmpf! Well tell her that I'm not a kid anymore that needs to be watched over!"

But before Natsu could get his reply he was pinned down to the ground by Gajeel who has finally released himself from the tight bonds in his ankle.

"Look Salamander! I'm not your servant boy that you could just order around! The only reason I'm here is because that scary woman said so! So stop complaining!"

When Gajeel released Natsu he immediately apologized and cut the ropes that held Juvia and Gray.

"Alright so I apologize for acting so selfish"

"Well you should be! 'Coz next time I'll strangle you to death!" shouted the Ice-make user

He scoffed. "Good luck with that"

"It's alright Natsu-kun, Juvia understands what Natsu-kun feels about having love rivals!" Juvia stated while shooting a glare at Lucy.

"So this means we're gonna save the princess together then?" asked the blonde mage.

"We have no choice. We're all a team after all." stated the ice mage.

"Alright! I'm getting more fired up than ever! Let's go save that princess!"

"Aye sir!"

And so their journey begins…..

AN : Finally edited chapter 1! BTW, just in case some of you are confused, this story takes place after the Edolas arc and also this story will be focusing on Gray, Loke, and Gajeel because I'm a huge fan of those three hehehe. Again please review!


	2. The Village

**A/N: This chapter has been edited but the storyline is still the same, so I hope you enjoy! And don't forget to leave reviews :D**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything**

**Chapter 2:** The Village

It was a wonderful day in the East Forest – the sky is blue, birds are chirping, flowers are blooming and everything was perfect, except for Natsu's ranting and Gray's silent cursing.

"Damn it Gajeel! How long are you gonna keep us walking! Are we even there yet?!"

"Shut it Natsu! I'm having a hard time recalling this place."

"Pft. You mean you don't know where you're going and now you've got us all lost!"

"We're not lost! It just so happens that the village is at the heart of the forest."

"And where the hell did you get that idea?"

"It's at the back of the request dumbass."

"What did you just call me?"

"I said you're an annoying moron that's gonna be minced meat if you don't shut your mouth up!"

"Why you!"

And then the fight starts… again.

Lucy sighed as she watched the two men fighting each other. They've been shouting at one another for the past couple of hours and now this happens. She sighed again, this time loudly. _When will they ever grow up?_ Just the thought of it makes Lucy want to cry, judging from the fact that almost everyone in her guild are like this. '_Typical idiots'._ She was about to stop the two when Gray beat her to it.

"Hey! Why don't the two of you just shut up so we can get there quickly?!"

But the two dragon slayers ignored him, they even punched him in the gut both shouting "shut up!" and send him flying through the trees.

"Gray-sama!"

"Alright that's it! I've just had enough of you two!" shouted Gray while dashing towards them and joining in on the fight. Now the forest is turning into a total wreck, what with two dragon slayers and a stripping ice mage fighting at one another and a certain water mage trying to protect her beloved Gray-sama plus an ignorant exceed (which by means has no idea of what the heck's going on), started hitting everyone with a fish. Now it's all up to Lucy to put everything into order.

"Everyone please settle down, stop fighting" Lucy tried to sound as calm as possible (albeit, unsuccessfully) but still kept on. This time she's really losing her patience, she tried tugging on Natsu's scarf in attempt to stop him from landing another punch at Gray but got caught in as well. Now all hope is lost and no one can stop them from fighting. Except when Natsu stepped on his own scarf that sent him and everyone around him tumbling over the bushes, did they stop.

"Well this is unexpected." A familiar voice spoke and all of them turned their heads up surprised to see a black and a pink exceed hovering three feet above where they lay and, from what Lucy assumed to be Wendy, was running towards them.

"Pantherlily?" Gajeel was the first one to find his voice and was still confused on what's going on. "What are you doing here? And why are you with Wendy and uhh – " he paused for a bit trying to remember the pink exceed's name, Charle on the other hand glared at the Iron Dragon Slayer but waited patiently for his response. He snapped his fingers when he finally remembered, "I got it! Shirley!"

Charle kicked him in the face and gave him a major head blow "You IDIOT! It's Charle! CHARLE!"

Pantherlily chuckled at the sight of his master and proceeded to answer his question "We wanted to save the princess too but you guys already left so we just flew our way through here."

"Sorry, Lucy-san, we didn't expect we'd arrive here first."

"B-but Juvia still doesn't understand how you got here so quickly."

"It's simple, you simple-minded woman, we just took a shortcut." Charle replied sarcastically.

"WHAT SHORTCUT?!" they all asked in unison.

"The one at the poster! Sheesh! There's a label on the corner!" Charle rolled her eyes and couldn't believe how they could've missed something like that. At the mention of the said shortcut at the poster, they all looked to check it out and boy were they surprised. Right at the upper left corner was a small label indicating the fastest way to the village. The group stared at it for a long time, taking in the information they've just receive and one by one they collapsed on the ground due to frustration and exhaustion. The only person standing up was Juvia, although she seems to be shaken as well.

"Don't tell me you're gonna faint too like the rest of them?! I certainly couldn't carry you all!"

"Charle, t-that's rude." Wendy said.

"In the end, we still have to carry them to the cottages" said the black exceed.

"Sigh. I guess it can't be helped. Hey, water-woman! What's your name again?"

"J-Juvia." She stammered still unsure of what to do. "Juvia Loxar."

"Well Juvia, we certainly couldn't carry them all at once, can we? Why don't you stop staring into space and give us a hand in here."

"Oh! Of course, Juvia will carry Gray-sama."

"You too Wendy."

"H-hai!"

…

When morning arrived, Lucy woke up to discover that she was in a different place.

_Huh? Where am I?_ She looked around, realized that she was in a little cottage and saw her key pouch lying on a table across from her. Confused on how it got there, she got up and swiftly took her keys as if someone might snatch them away. She hooked her key pouch on her belt and made her way out of the cottage. Truly, it really was a bright sunny morning, the moment Lucy got out she had to cup her hands over her eyes to see things clearly until her eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness. And what a magnificent view she saw! The village she had seen in the poster was nothing compared in real life. The whole landscape was covered in grass and there was a small pond in one corner. On one side, tall trees stood high in their place each bearing different kinds of colorful fruits and on another side there grew different vegetables. But the best part is, everywhere you look you could see a bunch of flowers blooming in the fields. It's all so pretty you couldn't even imagine it was real. The cottages, she noticed were a bit small for an average human but who cares anyway? She was so magnified by the view in front of her.

"Is this a dream? Am I in heaven?"

"No, 'cause you're not dead."

Lucy turned to see who the intruder was and shouted in joy

"Happy!" she then pulled the blue exceed into a hug.

"Good morning Lucy-chan! Slept well?"

"Very! I can't believe this place! It's amazing!"

"Mmhm! And the villagers are very nice! They even prepared us a welcoming banquet!"

"Really? Where?" Lucy looked around to find the said banquet but there was nothing on sight.

"It's just over that hill!" Happy pointed to a somewhat large hill just across the cottages "Hurry! Before Natsu eats everything!"

Lucy ran trying to catch up. When they got over the hill, the scenery was pretty much the same only a bit wider and unexplainably familiar.

_Huh. Funny, this terrain looks just like the ones we own back home._

When she saw Natsu and the others waving to her, she jogged up to them and took the honor of taking a seat just beside Natsu, who is pretty much gobbling everything he could get a hold of.

"Good – morning – Lucy –!" Natsu greeted in between chews.

"Natsu, slow down, it's not like the end of the world, there's still plenty more on the table" Lucy then noticed that her other friends were eating just as fast as Natsu, only a little bit less messy.

She sighed. "I guess it can't be helped then," she muttered to herself in surrender seeing that her friends were just as hungry as her. Not waiting any longer, she grabbed the nearest dish, placed it all on her plate and started eating on her own. Not only the landscape was beautiful but the food was delicious. They were in paradise! She hasn't been on a job that would even offer a banquet just for them! This is the best one they've ever had! So far.

Just as she was about to get to her third plate, a stout and petite man stood up on the stool and greeted them in a shrilling voice.

"Dear mages! We thank you all for hearing our plea and for coming here today in aiding our problem!"

Gray stifled back a laugh after hearing the man's voice, so as the rest of the mages.

"Is this guy seriously for real? He sounds like a gay to me" Gray whispered to Juvia who was sitting too close beside him.

"Hihihi… Juvia thinks so too."

The petite man coughed to get their full attention "As I was saying, our village is in terrible danger, therefore we seek the help of one of Fiore's strongest guild."

"What's the problem?" Gajeel asked.

"As you see, there are no humans in here, right?

When they all nod, the mayor continued.

"The reason for this is because everyone in this village has been cursed."

"Cursed?! What do you mean cursed?" Natsu asked, surprised.

"You see the animals that you've seen roaming around the village? They are the villagers."

"You're joking right?" Charle asked while raising an eyebrow at the mayor.

"This is no joke, miss. What I say is true."

"B-but how can that be?" Wendy asked

"Mr. Mayor, if you would kindly tell us the reason for this curse that you say." Lucy politely said

The mayor sighed. "I guess it can't be helped. Many years ago, when the animals in this village were still humans, there ruled a princess and we lived a happy life because of her. But one day, a stranger came by and kidnapped the princess, the stranger actually turned out to be a witch and cursed everyone in this village to turn into animals. For many years, we've suffered a lot because of this curse and we really wish that you could help us."

"What do you want us to do?" Lily asked.

"Find the wretched witch and kill her! And if you must, save the princess and bring her back to us, so that all of our suffering will end."

The mages looked at each other trying to consider his request.

"Please! I'm begging you, look at the villagers! They desperately want to return to their original forms! Please have mercy on them!" and the mayor started crying.

Natsu, who was looking at the mayor intently, got up and gave him a pat on the shoulder. The mayor looked up with tears in his eyes and Natsu gave him a big grin.

"Don't worry Ossan! We'll save the princess for you!"

More tears well up from his eyes and he bowed down to him

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you very much!"

Lucy smiled at him as did everyone else.

"Yosh! What are we waiting for then? Let's go save the princess!" shouted Natsu while walking away.

"Hey flame brain! Do you even know where the witch's hideout is?!" Gray asked.

Natsu abruptly stopped and suddenly grabbed the mayor by his shoulders.

"Where is the witch's hideout?"

"IDIOT! Don't just walk away when you don't even know where you're going!"

"The golden road." The mayor pointed to a golden colored road behind them. "Follow that and you will reach the witch's tower where she hides the princess, but be careful, there are other creatures guarding that road."

"Don't worry we'll be careful." Lily said.

"Yosh! Alright everyone! Let's goooo!"

And with that, everyone dashed towards the golden road, determined to save the princess.

"Good Luck everyone!" the mayor waved them good-bye, hoping that their mission would succeed.

When the mages where out of ear shot, the mayor brought out a walkie-talkie and a rasped voice spoke through it.

_*khhhrrhhhhk* "Well?"_

"They are on their way to the tower, milady"

"_Excellent"_

When the mayor finished, he gave a malicious grin and muttered to himself, his voice changing completely to that of a woman.

"Now, let's see just how strong you Fairies really are."


	3. The Gold Path

**AN: Chapter 3 has been edited. Review and Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Fairy Tail…**

**Chapter 3 :** The Gold Path

"What's this?!" Natsu complained. "What the hell's with this road?! We've been walking for hours dammit! And we're still not there?!"

"Could it be a trap?" Lucy asked.

"Hn. It might be, but we'll just have to keep on going. Something will turn out eventually." declared Charle.

"Easy for you to say, you're practically flying! Dammit! My feet already hurt so much I can't take another step!"

"G-Gray-sama…"

"Well, we don't have a choice now do we? The mayor said to just follow the path until we reach the tower."

"Are you sure there aren't any hidden shortcuts on this one?" Gray asked

"Of course there isn't! The mayor said it exactly what I said."

"Maybe she wasn't listening to him at all and got distracted." Gray whispered to Natsu

"Hmm. You're right, and maybe she might've led us to the wrong way." Natsu whispered back.

"Listen to what I'm saying you idiots! And stop whispering as if I can't hear you!" shouted the pink exceed.

"_sigh…_ What a troublesome bunch, might as well eat something"

Lucy brought out the cinnamon bread that she kept and started breaking it into pieces.

"Here you go Happy!"

"Thanks Lucy!"

"Wendy." Lucy also gave one to Wendy who's been walking meekly beside her. Her eyes widened in delight as she took the bread.

"Thank you, Lucy-san."

"You're welcome."

Wendy then went back into silence.

"Umm… Wendy?"

"Yes Lucy-san?"

"Is there something bothering you?"

"Huh? Why'd you asked?"

"You've been quiet for a while and you looked troubled."

"I-is that so? I'm sorry if I worried you."

"No, it's fine. So, what's the matter?"

"Uhm… well, I don't know how to put this, but I feel that there's something wrong about this job."

"Huh? Why's that?"

"I'm not sure, but ever since we came here, I've been feeling uneasy. Somehow I feel like we're walking into a trap."

"Wendy, you must've felt wrong, there's nothing wrong with this place. Maybe you're just too nervous about all of this."

"Maybe"

"Besides, even if this was a trap, I'll be here to protect you."

She smiled at that."Thank you, Lucy-san"

Not far behind, Gajeel watched the girls and he too started feeling uneasy. Lily noticed this and asked him.

"Gajeel"

"Hn?"

"What's wrong?"

"Huh? What're you talking about?"

"You look like you've just seen a ghost"

"I don't know, what Wendy said was right, there is something wrong about this job."

"Could it be that your dragon instincts are kicking?"

"Probably. Take a look at Natsu, he's turned quiet too."

Lily looked ahead and saw that Natsu _has_ become quiet and left Gray and Charle to argue with one another. Gajeel was right, something is definitely wrong.

"Should we tell the others about this?"

"No. Their anxiety could jeopardize the mission. For now, let's just be cautious."

"Ne~ Natsu-kun."

"…"

"Hey Natsu!"

"Huh? Yes Happy?"

"Are you alright?"

"Eh?"

"You're acting weird."

"Oh." He laughed nervously "Sorry, but somehow I've been getting this weird feeling ever since we walked here."

"What kind of feeling?"

"Well – "

All of a sudden, a strong gust of wind stopped their tracks and instantly creating a transparent barrier separating them into groups. Natsu with Happy, Lucy with Wendy and Charle, Gajeel with Pantherlily, and Gray with Juvia.

"What the – ? Hey! What gives?"

"Natsu look! It's Lucy!"

"Happy! Natsu! What happened? What is this?"

"Beats me! It looks like an invisible wall."

"But out of what?"

"Wind." Wendy stated.

Both mages looked at her incredulously.

"Can't you feel it? There's a slight breeze in here, and the breeze is strong when you're near the wall."

"Is this the same as your Air magic Wendy?" Lucy asked

"I don't think so. Air and Wind magic maybe similar in some ways but they're still different. Air magic mostly concentrates on healing abilities while Wind magic is offense, but to make a perfect solid form out of wind?"

"That's not possible is it?"

"Well, you're already looking at it."

"No way. There's no way you can make a perfect solid form out of wind."

"Wait a sec! What about that guy named Erigor? Didn't he make different forms out of wind?" butted Natsu.

"But it's not as perfect as this! That guy's wind magic is rough, but this wall, you could hardly see it and yet it's texture is just like that of an actual wall!"

"True. I've never seen such magic before." Wendy pressed her palm to the barrier and tried to break it with her Air magic.

"**AIR SURGE!**" but it didn't work. "If my hunch is correct, I'm guessing this is an advance-level type of Wind magic."

All were surprised.

"Hey brat! What do you mean advance-level magic? Is there even such a thing?" Gajeel asked

"Yes. Advance-level magic, as the name depicts it, is a magic that's heightened to an advanced scale. Its power is ten times more powerful than that of its original magic. For example, this Wind barrier, originally it's just a typical Wind magic that you can see often used by regular mages, but with enough training you can strengthen your magic's power and eventually gain new abilities until that magic has reached a certain level where you can do almost impossible things not even an S-class mage could do, that magic is called Advance-level magic, although, you can make a shape out of wind but if it were interfered by another element of its weakness it wouldn't be much offensive. In this situation, this magic is called Wind-make Magic where you can shape the wind into any shape you want and make it completely solid while retaining its elemental composition."

"You mean like Gray's magic?" Lucy asked

"Exactly, only instead of ice, it's wind. But to execute this kind of magic requires deep concentration and consumes a lot of magic energy. But then, whoever made this managed to execute it in a matter of seconds."

"So you're saying?" Gray asked

"My theory is that the mage who made this barrier must've been waiting all this time concentrating on his magic and executed it just as we passed through or he/she is an S-class mage."

"WHAT?!" they shouted in unison.

"Wendy, how can you be so sure?" Charle asked

"It's only a theory, but I feel the latter might be the case, in fact possessing this kind of magic, he/she might be as strong as Erza-san or worse – stronger than Erza-san."

"S-stronger than Erza?" Lucy shivered.

"That'd be a nightmare." Lily muttered.

"Ha! If anyone claims to be stronger than Erza, it should be me! I'm getting fired up! Whoever made this shit, I'm gonna beat the living hell outta him!" declared Natsu.

"Shut the hell up Natsu! You don't even know how to get out of this thing!" Gajeel shouted.

"It's easy, we use Gray-san" Wendy stated.

"Wait! Why me? What does this have to do with me?!" Gray asked

"Because you're likely the only one who can break out of here."

"WHAT?!" Both Natsu and Gajeel shouted.

"Hey! Why does it have to be that guy, huh?!" Natsu complained.

"Because whoever made this barrier uses the same kind of magic as Gray-san. And to dispel one's magic, we must use the same kind of magic against it. I'll show you."

"Natsu-san, please use your fire to break free."

"Okay. **FIRE DRAGON'S FIST****!**"

But before Natsu could even touch the wall, the fire went out immediately.

"What?!"

"Lucy-san, please use one of your spirits."

"Alright. Gate of the Ram, I open thee! **ARIES!**"

Aries then used **Wool Bomb** but to no effect.

"I thought so…" Wendy muttered.

"I-I'm really s-sorry!" whined Aries.

"It's fine Aries, you can go back now."

"Gajeel-san, do you mind?"

"Hn. **IRON DRAGON'S SWORD SLASH**!"

Still, nothing happened.

"Juvia-san."

"Hai. **WATER SLICE**!"

And again, nothing.

"Now Gray-san, if you please."

"Hn. I still don't get this. **ICE-MAKE LANCE**!"

Hundreds of ice shards shoot from Gray's palm, creating a large crack through the wall.

"Hey! It worked!"

"Haaa~3… as expected of Gray-sama!"

"Gray-san, do it again, only stronger."

"Yosh! I got this! **ICE MAKE LANCE**!"

When the second attack was released, the wall broke and Gray and Juvia were freed.

'_Hmpf… sorry Natsu, looks like I'm the one who's gonna beat the living hell out of the guy who made this'_

"Alright! Juvia let's go!"

"Haii! Gray-sama~3!"

Meanwhile, the others were waiting for Gray to free them all.

"That bastard! What's taking him so long!" Natsu complained.

"Natsu! Just wait okay! The guy's probably trying, it's not like every day you see this kind of magic you know?" Lucy replied.

"(sigh) Fine"

"Speaking of which, is it just me or is it getting foggy in here?"

"Yeah, you're right, one moment." She walked towards the wall. "Gajeel-san? How's Gray-san doing?" Wendy called.

"I-I can't see anything!"

"What?!" they shouted in unison

"Oi! Teme! What do you mean you can't see?!" Natsu shouted.

"I don't know! The fog just showed up and I can't see him anywhere!"

"Damnit! That bastard must've run away then!"

"We can't be sure Natsu" Lucy said.

"Lucy's right! Besides, Gray will never leave us behind!" Happy protested.

"Hmph! Who knows? Maybe the fire boy's right." Charle said.

"C-charle! Gray-san will never do such a thing!"

"Anyway, why don't you try calling him Gajeel?" Lucy called.

"I'll try… if he's still there." Gajeel muttered

Gajeel called twice but there was no reply, but on the third try Gray answered back and relief swept through all of them.

"Hey Gray! Hurry up and break this thing! It's getting kinda creepy in here!" Gajeel shouted.

"Yeah, well the thing is, I can't!"

"What?!" Gajeel shouted. "What do you mean you can't?!"

"Hey Teme! You better free us or I'll turn you into coal!" Natsu threatened.

"Gray-san! What's wrong? Why can't you?" Wendy asked.

"Because, I can't see anything either! Only a bunch of fog everywhere!"

"Well then try retracing your steps and come back to where you came from!" Lucy suggested.

"I'm trying! I'm trying!"

Gray then tried feeling his way through the fog

'_Damnit! If I could only create something to get out of this I would – huh?'_

"Gray-sama! Gray-sama! Where are you? Gray-sama!"

'_That sounds like Juvia'_ "Juvia!" he called through the fog.

"Gray-sama!"

"Are you alright?"

"Hai!"

"Where are you?"

"Juvia's over here!"

Gray looked around until he spotted Juvia's silhouette.

'_There!'_

"Gray-sama?!"

"Hold on Juvia! I'm coming to get you! Don't move no matter what!"

"O-okay!"

He started making his way towards the silhouette.

'_What is with this fog?!'_

Meanwhile, Juvia is starting to get scared.

"I-it's okay. Gray-sama is on his way, Gray-sama will rescue Juvia, a-and maybe Gray-sama will mount Juvia on his mighty steed wearing a shiny armor and we'll ride off to a castle with Gray-sama carrying Juvia in his arms and Gray-sama will ask for Juvia's hand in marriage and we'll have 30 babies and we'll live happily ever after! Haaa~3! Gray-sama! Juvia's waiting for you!"

Just then, Juvia suddenly heard a rustle of footsteps coming from behind her and then a cold hand suddenly touched her shoulder.

"Oooh, Gray-sama! That was fast! Will you ask for Juvia's hand in marriage now?"

But there was no reply, only a chuckle and this sent shivers down her spine.

"Gray-sama?"

Juvia, scared at first, slowly turned around to look at Gray.

"Gray-sa – ack!"

While Gray was following Juvia's silhouette, he heard a piercing scream. Gray stopped in his tracks recognizing the voice and bolted his way through the hazy fog towards the water mage's silhouette, which is slowly fading away.

"Shit! Juvia!"

"Gray-sam – agh!"

By the time he arrived to where Juvia was, she's disappeared, only her hat was left and it was ripped into many pieces

'_Damn it!'_

"Juvia! Juvia! Where are you?!" he shouted frantically searching for his blue-haired companion.

Gray looked around but there was nothing to see but a cloud of fog, he started panicking and called Juvia's name over and over again.

"Gray-sama…" a meek voice called behind him. Gray immediately turned around and saw a silhouette of a girl.

He then started making his way towards it.

"Juvia! There you are! Where've you been?"

"G-gray-sama…"

As Gray got closer to the silhouette he noticed that it's a bit different from Juvia's. While Juvia's hair has big round curls at the bottom, the shadow has its hair long and wavy. Plus the shadow looks a bit taller than Juvia.

"Juvia?"

"Graa~y-sama~3" this time the voice shifted from a meek tone to a psychotic one.

By the time he emerged from the fog, he came face to face to a girl in a white hooded cloak.

"Boo."

Startled, Gray took a step back but a barrier was formed behind him, giving him nowhere else to go.

"What the?!"

Just then, the fog immediately dispersed and standing in front of him is the girl in white.

"**BOMB**." She whispered.

A surge of wind suddenly fell upon him and a great explosion occurred.

Meanwhile, the others heard the explosion and tried to check it out but all they could see is a cloud of fog. That's when they realized that the fog is slowly covering the walls, blocking their view from each other's side.

"Gray!" Lucy shouted.

"Gajeel-san! What's happening over there?!" Wendy called.

"I-I don't know, it's hard to see anything through this fog!"

Gajeel squinted his eyes trying very hard to see through the glass-like wall. For a moment, he could see Gray fighting someone. Panic rises inside him not because Gray's life is in danger but because he's too indulged in what he's doing that he might never get them all out in time. Gajeel pounded on the wall and called for his name many times trying to get his attention. Pantherlily grabbed for his arm to stop him.

"Gajeel! It's useless, he probably couldn't hear you."

"Damn it! Why does he get all the fun?! I wanna fight too!"

Pantherlily sweat dropped. '_That's what he's worried about?'_ "First things first, we need to get out of here."

"Yeah, but how?!"

Gajeel once again pressed his palm against the walls and closed his eyes for a moment while thinking of a way to escape. When an idea finally hit him, the girl appeared in front of him. Acting on impulse, he took a few steps back and went on to his fighting stance while Pantherlily transformed into his battle mode form and unsheathed his sword.

"Who are you!?" Gajeel asked.

But the girl didn't say anything, she only crossed her left arm across her abdomen and bit the tip of her index finger with her right hand while chuckling to herself. Gajeel couldn't help but look at the girl's features, she wore a strapless plain white dress that only goes in the mid-section of her thighs and white knee-high boots with matching long white gloves, and overlapping that dress is a white hooded cloak with blue snowflake designs. Her hair – even though she wore a hood, is long and wavy and it's as white as the color of the snow itself, her eyes were hidden in a white mask with intricate designs leaving her lower part of her face completely exposed, she has pale skin and her cheeks are like porcelain. Regardless of the situation, Gajeel thought that the girl is actually very pretty and if he wasn't trapped right now he would think that the girl is innocent, but of course, looks can be deceiving. Gajeel then finally noticed that the girl is only standing behind the wall. Relief washed over him like a tidal wave, he resented the thought of fighting her because he wouldn't have the guts to fight a girl. He once again composed himself, standing straight with his head high, scowl on his face and asked one more time.

"I don't like to repeat myself so I'll ask again. Who the f*** are you?!"

The girl chuckled again then she replied, but the glass was blocking the sound making it barely audible. Good thing Gajeel possesses the hearing ability of a dragon making him hear the most inaudible sounds.

"I don't like the tone of your voice, but I'm glad that you asked."

Then suddenly, she disappeared into the fog and came up from behind him, stroking his broad shoulders with her slender fingers and placing her lips near his ear and continued speaking in the most seductive tone Gajeel has ever heard.

"I'm the one – who put you all here – in this magic box." she said it while blowing shallow breathes on his ear. Heat ran through his cheeks and a cold shiver ran down his spine. Startled, he jumped a few paces away from the girl until he was at a safe distance from her.

"W-W-What the hell are you doing?!" Gajeel could still feel her hot breath tingling in his ear but he just shrugged it away.

'_What is wrong with this girl?!' _he thought.

The girl laughed hard at his reaction and clutched her stomach with both arms while trying very hard not to roll over the floor.

"You should've – seen your face!" she wiped a tear from the corner of her eye and ceased laughing.

"You men are all the same. So easy to seduce. Bet a decent-looking man like you couldn't resist the temptation."

Out of the blue, a large iron fist came rushing down on her, quickly dodging the incoming attack missing her by a hair and came crushing down the ground instead, creating a large crater.

"Look lady, I appreciate that you called me decent but I'm not a pervert that could easily fall for your dirty tricks."

"Whoa! Hold up! I'm not your opponent pal!"

Gajeel stopped abruptly and looked at her incredulously.

"You're not?"

"No. I'm nothing but a mere clone, my real body is fighting your ice friend at the other side"

Gajeel quickly turned to see if she was right but he couldn't see anything for the walls had completely turned into black.

"You can't see past the walls now." she answered, guessing his thoughts "I used the fog to completely cover it, you can't even hear a single sound from the outside."

"What about my other friends? What have you done with them?"

"The same thing I'm doing to you, there are other clones talking to them right now, but don't worry, I'm not here to harm you – well, at least not yet."

"What do you mean? What did you come here for? Why are you doing all of this?"

She chuckled "Slow down, one question at a time."

"I'm here to explain your current situation."

The scene then shifted to Lucy and Wendy's side.

"This is not an ordinary battle that you mages encounter everyday."

Then it shifted to Natsu's side

"This is just merely a test."

"A test?" Natsu asked.

"A test of what?" asked Lucy.

"A test of strength and wits of course."

"You see, we want to see just how strong you mages are."

"What do you mean "we"?" Gajeel asked

"That is classified information and it will not be answered."

"Tch."

"Then why are you here?" Natsu asked

"I'm here to give you a warning or let's say a hint on what lies ahead for you."

Every mage stood there, eyes wide waiting for her next words.

"Listen carefully Fairies."

"This test is no ordinary test"

"For it will show your true strength."

"Fail and you will be eaten."

"Succeed and you'll still be eaten."

"Only with much care."

Each mage looked at her confused and waited for more.

"That is all."

"What the hell?! What does that mean?! It doesn't even make any sense!" Gajeel complained.

"That's not my problem, it's yours now. Well if you don't mind I'll be off now, but be warned, choose carefully… See ya!"

"Oi! Wait a sec.!"

But the clone left with a 'poof' and they were all alone, the fog had already darkened the room that they could hardly see anything, much less hear.

"Happy?"

"Aye."

"L-Lucy-san"

"Wendy, stay alert."

"Gajeel, did you –?

"Yeah, I feel it too."

Gajeel narrowed his eyes, stared into the darkness and sniffed.

"We are not alone in this room."

**AN: Looks decent enough. Had to change some typos and wrong grammars, I also changed the part where Wendy explains about the Advance-level magic. Now it's in perfect detail! Hope you'd understand that part.**


	4. The Test

**AN: Chapter 4 has been edited, but only to a minimum. You would've notice the writing style has changed. :D well, please leave a review and ENJOY!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail!**

**Chapter 4: The Test**

Sweat trickled down on Gray's forehead as he struggled to stand on his feet, standing a few meters from him was the girl – which he figured was about his age, and Juvia standing unconscious while a small tornado spins around her, guarding her figure. Right now, they are currently trapped inside another dark room and the fog has completely disappeared.

The girl chuckled. "What's wrong, handsome? Tired already?" she said in a sweet, melodious voice. Had she not bombed him, he would've mistaken her as an innocent girl.

'_Shit! This isn't good.' _thought Gray.

"Tired? Me? Hah! I was just getting started" he wiped the intruding sweat that was blurring his vision.

"Well, then give me your best shot!"

'_Dammit! If this keeps up I'll run out of magic sooner or later'_

He averted his gaze to the water woman who was unconsciously being a prisoner to the girl.

'_Juvia…'_

He closed his eyes and focused once more on his remaining magic energy and then prepared to release a spell.

"**ICE MAKE – !**"

"Too slow!"

Just then, a surge of wind pierced through Gray's chest causing great injuries on his torso.

"Gah! What the –?"

Gray clutched on his bare chest trying to stop the bleeding and fell on his knees once again.

'_How did she – ?'_

As if she was reading his mind, the girl stated.

"That was my magic,** PIERCE**. It can pierce through anything in a blink of an eye."

"Dammit!"

"I told you earlier didn't I? You can't win, no one has ever dodged my attacks before."

"Shit! **ICE MAKE LANCE!**"

But once again the girl dodged it.

"**ICE MAKE HAMMER!**"

Dodge.

"**ICE MAKE CANNON!**"

Dodge.

"**DAGGER**"

Wind-like daggers pierced through Gray's arms.

"Agh!"

Seeing his battered form, she scowled at him and regarded him with disappointment.

'_Huh. And rumor has it they're from the strongest guild in Fiore. Pathetic!'_

"Tch. What weak magic, you're no fun at all!"

The mysterious girl then proceeded to her signature stance – which is connecting the tip of all her fingers making a tent, before releasing her magic.

"Guess fun time's over." She said looking bored. " I'll finish this quickly for the both of you."

"Damn it!"

Gray tried to escape but surprisingly he couldn't move his arms no matter how hard he tried. That's when he noticed small wind-like chains piercing through his biceps, restraining him. He stared in confusion when he remembered the wind daggers that attacked him.

'_Don't tell me!?'_

"You finally noticed them eh?"

"Damn you!"

She let out a sadistic laugh, one Gray would describe as horrifyingly cute and scary at the same time.

"I told you, you can't win, now I'm gonna send you and your girlfriend to the other world."

"You bitch! That's not fair!"

"Life's not fair charming, you should know that as a mage. Well, have a safe trip!"

"Wait!"

"Bye-bye!"

Before Gray could even struggle to escape, the girl slowly lifted her arms above her head making a crisscross pattern while chanting an incantation.

"_Bring them to the Twilight_…"

"Shit! No!"

"**AUTUMN BREEZE!**"

A strong breeze surrounded the whole area creating a somewhat like tornado covered with red and orange leaves. Then a piercing scream echoed throughout the darkness.

Gajeel abruptly turned his gaze to where the scream came from, the same with the other mages.

"Dammit…" Gajeel muttered under his breath.

"Gray-san, Juvia-san…" Wendy cried, tears welling under her eyes.

"Oi Wendy! Now's not the time to cry!" Charle scolded.

"B-but…"

Lucy gently patted Wendy's head, calming her.

"It's alright Wendy, I believe in them."

Wendy looked up to her, tears still spilling over her eyes, and finally realizing that Lucy was right she wiped her face and smiled at her, feeling more confident than before.

"Un!"

Just then, a cloud of smoke started forming in front of them, shaping into a human-like appearance

" Lucy-san!"

"I know…"

'_This must be the test that girl is talking about'_

Unbeknownst to them, the same thing is happening to their other comrades.

"Gajeel, what-?"

"Lily, get ready"

"Natsu!"

"Yosh! Bring it on! I'm getting fired up!"

The mages watched as the cloud of smoke started to take color and form. Over at Natsu, the cloud took the shape of a woman with very big assets and a curvy body, then the hair color turned yellow, and then clothes were formed – a caramel-colored mini skirt, brown knee-high boots and a green tank top, hooked over at the belt was a whip and a key pouch.

"What the heck?!" Natsu exclaimed, shocked.

When the smoke disappeared, standing before him was an exact replica of Lucy. Natsu's cheek twitched, never had he imagined there would be a day where he would face off Lucy in a battle. The fake Lucy smirked at him, sensing his discomfort and gestured to come at her. Happy – who was ignorant as ever, dashed towards Lucy and greeted her in his usual manner.

"Lucy!"

"Wait! Happy!"

Before Happy could even touch her, fake Lucy unhooked her whip and slashed it across Happy's face, while shouting "Baka Neko!" that sent him crashing across the wall.

"Happy!" Natsu rushed over to his side and took a quick check on his injuries. Happy lay sprawled across the floor with a big red lash on his face, unconscious. The impact must have knocked him out, but Natsu had never anticipated how strong Lucy was.

"Shit! You'll pay for this!"

Natsu then charged at her, fists flaming with fire, while the fake Lucy shifted her voice to the actual Lucy and changed her facial expression as if she were in pain.

"Natsu! Stop!"

Natsu's eyes widened, different emotions suddenly filled inside him and felt his stomach twisting into knots. Anger? Worry? Frustration? Guilt? He couldn't describe these emotions that suddenly filled his chest as he came to a stop when his fist was only inches away from her face.

"L-Lucy… I – "

"Stupid!"

The fake Lucy then gave a sinister laugh as she pointed the canon spirit at his chest.

"What the – ?!"

Fake Lucy flashed him a sadistic smile and Natsu gasped in horror.

"Die…" she muttered before firing the full-powered chisel at the horror-stricken fire mage.

Over at Lucy's side, two pillars of smoke were starting to take shape in front of them. One looked like a little girl while the other looked like a man. Then the figures started filling some color and clothes in them. For the little girl figure, the hair turned into blue and a small dress with complex patterns was formed, then a pair of sandals was materialized with small wings sticking at the sides, for the man figure, the hair turned into pink and it donned a black blazer with an orange hem, white baggy shorts that goes just below the knees, black sandals and a very familiar white scarf with scale-like patterns wrapped around his neck.

The two mages and exceed watched in horror as the smoke surrounding the two figures dispersed revealing an also exact replica of Wendy and Natsu. Wendy trembled as she saw herself smiling sadistically at her as if she wanted to eat her alive, but then she shifted her gaze to Lucy who was also staring at her in horror. Fake Wendy's smile grew wider revealing sharp-edged teeth and started laughing maniacally. Fake Natsu did the same thing as well, eyeing the little girl, trembling beside Lucy with fiend interest.

Both mages shivered at the sound of it. They never anticipated that the so called test would be battling against their own friends (well, it's not like they're real anyway), of course they were expecting something worse but this idea didn't even crossed their minds, and it was totally unexpected.

Lucy looked over to the little blue-haired mage beside her – Wendy is trembling in fear. Well, who could blame her, even she was a bit shaken when she saw a sadistic version of Wendy and also the fact that they had to face a demon-like Natsu. The fake Wendy was the least to her problems since she can let Wendy and Charle deal with her – I mean, what's the best way to defeat an evil counterpart than to match it up with the original one? Her only main problem is dealing with Natsu. She had seen his fighting skills countless times and had witnessed his monstrous powers, there is no way she could defeat him, she's gonna have a hard time thinking up a plan in order for them to win, but what had the white girl meant?

As if on cue, both fake copies dashed forward ready to give out their first strike. Acting on instinct, both mages dodged. Wendy already regained her composure and prepared to attack but not before fake Natsu gave her a major blow in the stomach which sent her crashing through the wall. She felt as if all of the oxygen escaped from her lungs as she crashed and choked up a handful of her own blood, before she could even get up, fake Natsu grabbed a fistful of her shirt, lifted her up and then gave her another punch.

Right. In. the. Face.

"Wendy!" Lucy was about to run to her when the fake Wendy swung her leg to Lucy's stomach making her cough up blood and fall in her knees. She tried giving the imposter a punch in the face but the fake one was too fast for her and ended up getting punched at instead, she heard a terrible crack as spots danced around her eyes and everything in her vision started to look red and blurry, but that didn't stop the fake Wendy from giving her another powerful punch square in the face, did she fell limply across the floor. She could hear Wendy's scream as Natsu mercilessly kicked and punched her battered body over and over again. Tears started to well up in her eyes, she felt so useless that she couldn't do anything to save her. She tried fumbling for her keys but was already gone the moment fake Wendy punched her.

'_Damn it!'_ she thought. '_How could I have let this happen!'_

Though admitting, she's not the strongest mage there is, she could hardly match her strength with any of her teammates, and she'd been defeated countless times by different mages and her friends would always be there to save her, but this is the worst humiliation she could have ever received in her entire life. Being defeated by a little girl, a fake one! And what's worse, the little girl that she regarded as a sister! Could this be any worse?

"Get up!" shouted fake Wendy and stomped on her foot. Lucy winced at the sharp pain but continued to ignore her while thinking of a plan on how to deal with this situation.

"I said get up b*tch!" this time fake Wendy kicked her in the shins trying to drive her patience.

Despite the pain, Lucy tried her best to get up, when she did she was met by another fist to her cheek. Her vision blurred and the world swayed before her, she could feel blood trickling down her nose and was having a hard time breathing as fake Wendy punched and kicked her over and over again. She could hear Charle screaming in the background as she watched both mages being beaten up into a pulp. Once again she fell to the floor having all of her strength sucked out of her and her body was too hurt to even move. She watched through half closed eyes as fake Wendy was about to deliver the final blow and whispered her last plea before her world goes dark.

"Loke…"

**AN: Their ages are the same in the anime during the Edolas arc if any of you are confused. Just saying. :D**


	5. The Test pt 2

**AN: This chapter has also been edited, but not that much. **** Please review and ENJOY!**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN Fairy Tail ;9**

**Chapter 5 : The Test pt. 2**

Gajeel had no idea what to do. Heck, he didn't even know what's happening right now. All he knew is one minute he was standing there, cautiously waiting for his opponent to show when a pillar of smoke suddenly took shape in front of his eyes. He was anticipating for a fight, in fact he was craving for it ever since this mess happened, but what he didn't expect is that of all the people or monsters he could face, it had to be 'that' particular person. The 'only' person he wouldn't even dare to hurt. He cursed at himself as chunks of boulders came crashing down on him one after another, and as a skilled mage, he dodged every single one of them. It's not like the enemy poses a big threat to him and his partner, but he just couldn't bring himself to fight no matter how hard he tried to convince himself that it's all a fake.

"I better do something about this…" he muttered to himself.

'_Argh! Of all people, why does it have to be… her!' _he thought.

He took a quick glance at Pantherlily and noticed that he too was having a hard time focusing on his opponent. He couldn't blame him though, the white girl did an excellent job at replicating her features – with her short-cropped and messy blue hair, her small figure, her type of clothing and most of all, her all too innocent and adorably cute eyes that even the toughest man on earth couldn't resist.

Oh how much he despised those eyes, and at the same time how he craves for it. The way she looks at him, all innocent and cute, drove him insane! Now things had gotten worse with the fake one. Sure she looks at him the same way the real one does but this time it had an evil side to it, like how a mischievous little girl looks when about to put up her next prank, and also a bit – what's the word?... Seductive. Every time he looked at her, her eyes always seem to have some carnal desire in it, like she wanted to pounce on him then and there. And this made him shiver, he could still recall how the girl in white whispered in his ear, the way her hot breath tingled in his ear lobes and the way her slender fingers traced circles on his shoulder. Just by recalling that incident still sent chills up his spine. Honestly, he had no idea what to do when it comes to women.

You've probably guessed it already – yes, his opponent is none other than Levy McGarden. The same girl whom he had a crush on since he joined Fairy Tail but was too stubborn to admit it, the same girl whom he had sworn to protect as repayment for the horrible thing he had done to her, and the same girl who'd been running on his thoughts the moment this shit happened. And right now, he's fighting not the original Levy but a sadistic version of her. God! It's like his best dream and worst nightmare all wrapped into one package. How he'd wanted to see Levy go evil, and now that that had happened, it scared the hell out of him. He should've listened to that lame passage about being careful with what you wish for.

He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a crash beside him, he turned and saw Lily getting hit by a canon ball that Levy created. Shit! He got distracted. He still couldn't quite believe that Levy could be this strong.

He let out a puff. '_Never should've underestimated the shrimp' _he thought.

Focusing on the matter at hand, he helped up Lily and noticed he was breathing heavier than before, he also noticed he had a panicked look on his face.

"Lily, what's wrong?" he asked, holding him on his shoulder to keep him upright.

Lily took a few shaky breaths and then shook his head.

"I can't do it Gajeel, I can't hurt her. She resembles her too much." he looked at him with a painful expression.

Well that's a first, he never saw Lily hesitate in a battle before, much less give up. Looks like Levy got under his skin, and now he couldn't lay a single finger at her even if it was a fake.

Taking a big breath to calm his nerves, he replied."Fine. I'll fight her. You stay here and try breaking this wall."

With a nod, he dashed towards the battlefield where an impatient looking Levy was waiting for him with a bazooka in hand. What the –?! A bazooka?! How's he gonna top that?

He stood there a few meters from her, posed to attack. He waited for the opponent to strike first. Levy just stood there watching him, a sly grin plastered on her face. And god! It's that look in her eyes again. No. Focus Gajeel, don't think about her.

"What happened to your cat?" she asked.

"He's out for now. I'll be your opponent."

She snorted. "Took you long enough. Did you finally realize you're too chicken to beat me?"

"No. I realized –" then he turned his hand into a long sword "…that you're not real."

Levy shot the first missile but Gajeel dodged it, when the second one came, he wasted no time to think before he dashed forward aiming the sword on her chest where the heart is, but right when the sword is a few inches from her she created a fire barrier around her and scurried away from the incoming blade. Gajeel got a few burns on his arms and he grunted in pain while trying to put out the fire that caught in his clothes. He heard shuffling behind him and immediately jumped to the side when a big chunk of metal crashed on top of him, he jumped a second too late as his leg was caught under the huge debris. Pain shot through every part of his body especially on his right leg. He could feel the huge object crushing it and cringed when he smelled blood. He again heard shuffling beside him and without second thoughts, he pierced his sword on his left and heard a yelp of pain, when he drew it back, there was blood on it. He looked at his left and saw the fake Levy clutching her side as blood oozes out where he sliced her.

He stared at her curiously when she started laughing.

"Oi. Why the hell are you laughing?" he asked.

Levy's face darkened. "Why? Because –" she brought her blood streaked hand to her mouth and dragged her tongue from her wrist to the tip of her forefinger licking the blood off and smearing some on her lips "…you're more of a hindrance to our plans than I thought."

Before he could question any further, he screamed in pain as three sets of metal poles shot from the ground piercing both of his arms and his leg, pinning him there to the ground making him unable to move. He squeezed his eyes shut, pain shot all over his body tormenting him. He took slow shaky breaths to calm his heart down which was beating at a dangerous pace that he thought he was gonna have a coronary.

When he opened them, he could see spots of different colors dancing around his vision. Damn it! How could he not have seen through that? He realized Levy was better than he thought. He heard foot shuffling and then a shadow loomed over him. When he looked up, he might as well be hallucinating because he could see that it was not Levy hovering above him but someone he hadn't seen for years. His eyes widen as he took in the sight of a girl with jet-black hair tied in a cocktail's bun, eyes as red as blood, perfectly sculpted nose, and that all-knowing smirk as if she owned the world. He couldn't be mistaken, even the clothes looked the same as back then. A black zip-up tube that goes just below the ribs leaving her stomach completely exposed, topped with a black sleeveless _bolero _and red straps crossing over her exposed belly, black mini shorts, thigh high boots, a pair of hand guards and a flaming red scarf wrapped around her neck. He blinked a few times to see if he's just imagining it. Nothing. She really is real.

She stood over him casting a shadow over his immobile body. He still couldn't believe what he was seeing, either he was being delusional or he was imagining things due to his injury. He couldn't remember the last time he saw her - was it two years ago or three? But despite that, he could clearly remember her face as if it were the only image in his mind. This woman in front of him was his very first best friend and partner in crime.

"Nightmare?" his voice, thick and hoarse as he said her name.

She tensed for moment, eyes wide in horror before turning into a sneer.

"So you do know her. Huh. Never seen that one coming."

He looked at her confused.

"I am not who you think I am… this is just all in your mind."

"What are you talking about?"

"This magic that I used on you allows the user to take form the very person you could never hurt or kill no matter what."

"So, you mean-"

"Yes, this is all just in your head, although I'm surprised that _she _is one of your weaknesses. I guess it just proves that you really are a hindrance to our plan."

"What do you mean?"

"It means that I have to kill you."

She crouched down and brought out a long dagger. She aimed it at his throat and made sure it was aimed at his jugular. He tensed, his body shaking with both fear and pain. There's no escape from this, one slash of the weapon and it would be instant death.

"Don't worry, I'll send your regards to Nightmare once I'm done with you" she smirked.

Gajeel shut his eyes firmly waiting for the incoming pain and the feeling of his throat being cut open, but instead, he heard a loud crash and a yelp across the wall from where he lay. He opened his eyes and saw that Lily had caused the loud noise. He had the girl –who, thankfully, shifted back to evil Levy, pinned against the wall, arms locked in a firm grip above her head and his fangs were bared, hissing like a feral cat.

"Lily! Let me go! It's me, Levy, remember?" she begged like how Levy would do in the face of danger.

"Shut up! You're not Levy! The Levy that I know would never hurt Gajeel or me! She's too kind for that!"

Gajeel had never been so happy to have Lily by his side, his old partner may have left him but at least he gained a new one. With the last remaining strength, he pulled out one by one the poles that kept him stuck to the ground and slowly stood beside Lily, glaring at the fake Levy who was now crying.

"Took you long enough to sort this all out, huh Lily?"

Lily just shrugged and replied "Yeah, well, you weren't doing a great job yourself, so to speak."

They both looked at the struggling Levy trying to break free of Lily's hold.

"Should we kill her now, she is after all only a clone."

"No. I've got some questions to ask her."

"You'll never get anything from me!" she sneered.

"Oh really? Let's see if we use this." he leveled his hand-turned dagger near her throat.

"Would you still resist?" he murmured, voice filled with venom.

She swallowed hard, her mouth turning dry while eyeing the blade in front of her.

"What do you want to know?" she murmured softly.

"Gihihi…" he chuckled "First of all, what is your connection with Nightmare?"

Lily looked at him questioningly but Gajeel waved him off. "Well?"

She puffed and pouted at him "I'm the one who's supposed to ask that!"

"And I don't give a shit." he pressed the blade harder making her wince "Now answer my question."

She looked at him a little longer before answering.

"Nightmare... is the one who's leading this ambush."

Gajeel stood rigid eyes wide open in shock.

"She's our boss's right hand woman."

"That's bullshit!" he shouted "She wouldn't do something like that! Not her!"

"And how would you know? Do you know her personally? Come to think of it, how _did _you even know about her?"

Gajeel couldn't talk, his mouth had gone dry the moment she asked the question.

"What _is _your connection with Nightmare?"

_'Shit, this is bad! How the hell did it come to this?'_

"Gajeel?" Lily looked at him, pure concern etched on his face. Lily had no idea about his past with Nightmare, he couldn't bear to tell him about his relationship with her. And now that his worst fear has come he had no idea how to cover this up.

"Well?" the girl persisted "Aren't you gonna tell me or -!"

Before she could even finish, Gajeel slit her throat in a blink of an eye.

"Shut up" he muttered.

"Gajeel!"

Lily was horrified, he'd seen Gajeel gone angry before but that was nothing compared to now, there's some malice in him that he'd never seen before. Gajeel was still staring at the empty space where the clone has dissipated. Slowly, as if approaching a wild animal, he placed a tentative hand on his shoulder, he tensed for a moment with the sudden contact before relaxing under his touch. It wasn't Lily's fault that he was angry, so he shouldn't treat him so badly. He was about to apologize to him when a shadow suddenly loomed over them. It took him a moment to realize that the shadow was actually a person and was a second too late on dodging the incoming attack. Something exploded beneath their feet that caused them to fly on opposite directions. Cuts and burns decorated their whole body and they could hardly move, Gajeel felt a trickle of blood on the side of his face where a huge gash was on his forehead. Across from him he saw Pantherlily lying on his back, a great amount of blood pooling around him.

"Li-agh!"

He didn't realize that a sharp, jagged rock pierced his side. He was losing a great amount of blood and it's starting to make him dizzy. A high-pitched cackle broke out the lingering silence.

"Where're your threats now, Gajeel? Hahaha!" the fake Levy laughed.

_'Damn it!'_

"You think you can scare me with your threats? I'm a wind clone you idiot! It'll take more than a knife to kill me!"

He tried to get up but the pain on his side seems to double every time he moved. He touched the place where the rock had pierced him and he saw that the thing that stabbed him was a small knife.

"But for you, all it took was one small dagger" she grinned, showing off her pointed teeth while brandishing a similar dagger protruding on his side. She walked towards him and yanked his hair so hard Gajeel thought his head would come off, she positioned the dagger near his throat the way he'd done to her before.

"Lucky for you I'm a generous person. How about I'll make this nice and easy? While my other clones are torturing your friends, you and your cat will have a quick death. What do you say?"

His mind couldn't process a word she said. The pain kept increasing to the point where it's almost unbearable, that and he was starting to see red and black spots.

Fake Levy went on ignoring his obvious discomfort.

"I take it that's a yes then? Fine by me."

This is it, he thought, this is the moment where he would really die. Funny, he imagined a more glorious death just like any of the heroic figures that died – sacrificing their lives just for the sake of their love ones, not one that involve getting killed by his long-time crush. Just his luck.

"Goodbye..."

He closed his eyes waiting for his painful death that was to come but surprisingly nothing came. When he opened them, there he saw Lily choking the clone while fake Levy struggled for air, and despite his bloodied form he refused to loosen his grip as if his life depended on it.

"More than a knife, you say? Well, then it'll take more than a bomb to kill me."

"Lily..."

He grinned, a bit out of place considering their situation, but he couldn't help it. He was so glad he got to make him his cat or else he'd be dead by now.

Pushing himself up, he towered over the choking Levy and grinned.

"Alright. Let's finish this..."

**AN: Well that was gory. :D **


	6. The Final Blow

Chapter 6: The Final Blow

"Alright. Let's finish this..."

He brought his sword arm once more to her body this time aligning it to her heart.

"Gihihi..."

"Please! Spare me!" she said, eyes frantic and wild as she trembled in fear.

"Heh. Nice try but that ain't gonna work anymore."

"Why? Why do you still fight? It's hopeless you know, I still have your friends; they could be dead by now! Give up!"

"Give up? Now that I got you cornered? Besides, my friends aren't dead yet."

"How would you know?"

"Because... I believe in them...

"What the-?"

When the smoke disappeared, there stood Natsu, tall and proud, wiping his mouth and grinning in satisfaction.

_'Impossible. He ate the canon's fire!' _thought the fake Lucy

"Hehehe. Thanks for the meal miss. Now that I've eaten, I'm all fired up."

"H-H-How?"

"Sorry. But fire-type magic attacks... don't work on me"

"Hiiee!"

"My turn. **FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!**"

"Agghhhhhh!"

"And just like me, they too believe in all our strengths...

"Dammit!" shouted the fake Wendy.

Standing before them is Loke looking as charming as ever, protecting Lucy, Wendy and Charle behind him.

"Your Knight has arrived, Lucy" Loke said

"Loke..." Lucy feeling relieved as ever. One day, she'll have to pay him back for everything he'd done.

"Loke-san!" Wendy said weakly.

"Don't worry, my dear princesses, I'm here to protect you."

"You do that..." she watched from where she lay the two clones hissing at the newly arrived.

"I won't let you lay a finger on them."

"Then die!" both the clones charged, their fangs showing and snarling like a dog.

Loke then positioned himself and started his incantation.

"Oh Regulus, lend me your strength"

Lucy, Wendy and Charle hurriedly stood behind him.

"**LION BRILLIANCE!**"

"Aggghhhh!"

"Because that's how we do things in our guild."

"But I don't understand! How can believing in your friends make you stronger?"

"Because in our guild, we all have one thing in common..."

He paused for a bit letting the fake Levy absorb his words.

"We all fight for the sake of our friends!"

And for the final blow, he shouted at the top of his lungs.

"**IRON DRAGON'S SWORD!**"

With that, all four clones dispersed leaving them alone once more.

Back on Gray's side, when the spell was released a giant tornado formed around him, trapping him. The tornado comprised of red and orange leaves but the way they sliced on Gray's flesh it's as if they're knives instead of leaves.

"Aggghhhh!"

He screamed in pain as leaf after leaf sliced on his flesh. He thrashed around like a wild animal but he couldn't move, couldn't remove the chains that bound him there. He started panicking, if he doesn't get out of there sooner, he'd be shredded to pieces.

"Where's that power you're so proud of? Heh. You guild mages are all the same! Always bragging about your strengths and stepping on the weak ones!"

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Of course you wouldn't understand. You don't know what it's like anyway, and you wouldn't give a damn. Now, enough talk. Let's finish this."

She thrust her arm forward and willed the tornado to close around the ice mage. More leaves sliced on Gray's skin and this time deeper than before.

"Bye-bye..."

Before she could fully close the tornado around Gray, a strong current of water hit her from the side sending her crashing through the wall.

"What the-?" she exclaimed as the tornado immediately vanished the moment that happened, unfortunately, the chains were still intact on Gray. This brought a sigh of relief from her seeing that her captive had not escaped yet. Looking around the room, she saw no one else that could have possibly hit her, except when she noticed something that caught her attention.

The blue woman was gone.

The tornado where she encased her had now disappeared and so is the girl.

'_Dammit!__'_ How could that happen? No one, not even a fly, could escape her tornado cage without getting cut into pieces, so how-

She heard a ruffling sound and was on her guard within seconds, she couldn't fail this mission, even if it costs her life. Failure is not an option. Minutes passed for what seemed like hours that nothing happened, all she could hear was Gray's struggling and shouts of agony and her own breathing.

...

As the silence grew, sweat was starting to form on her forehead, so is her uneasy feeling. Shaking off any unnecessary distractions she closed her eyes and concentrated. She summoned a slight breeze and used it to feel around the room, ever so slightly, she felt something move at one corner towards her, then as quick as lightning she threw a dagger at that direction, but to her frustration, the dagger only met air.

With a growl she called, "Come out here you b*tch! Come out and fight like a real mage!" she squinted her eyes and looked around, trying hard to detect her escaped prisoner, she knew the blue woman is only lurking about because there is no way of escape in her barrier.

"Where are you?" she muttered.

"Here" then just as quickly, she was assaulted with hundreds of spikes from where she stood, even if they're water it was dangerous enough that it gave her a few cuts and barely dodged the incoming attack. A few spikes pierced through her, some through both of her forearms pinning her in place. Struggling to escape, she failed to acknowledge the water slowly forming in front of her, only did she noticed it when the water fully transformed into Juvia.

The white girl smirked "Impressive. I knew I never should've underestimated you."

"Let Gray-sama go!"

"What? So you two can escape into this hellhole? I don't think so."

"Why do you attack us like this? We haven't done anything to you!"

"Nothing? You stupid f*cks have no idea what you've gotten yourselves into!"

"W-what?" Juvia stared at her confused

"Just by accepting that damn mission, you've already chosen you're deaths! And now, you will all die."

At her last statement she burst into a cloud of smoke, and then in a flash, she attacked Juvia from behind.

"**WIND PIERCE!"**

Same with Gray, spikes of wind pierced through Juvia, only this time, she stood there unfazed by the attack. The white girl was surprised realizing that none of her attacks would harm the water mage.

"Juvia is made of water." as the last spike of wind went through her head. "Attacks like those won't work on Juvia."

She then took her chance to attack while the white girl was still surprised.

"**WATER PILLAR!"**

Pillars of water shot out of Juvia and went through her opponent just as she did to her. The girl screamed in pain as one impaled her on her chest but then began to laugh maniacally. Juvia looked at her confused but tensed when she saw that her water did no damage.

"W-what?" she stammered.

"I should've mentioned this earlier but..." she grinned, showing her sharp teeth. "I am made of wind. Attacks like those won't work on me."

With a loud cackle, she formed a tornado around them, entrapping them both. Juvia stood there with a stony expression.

"Looks like I've finally found my match, 'bout time!"

The next thing Juvia knew she was bombarded with hundreds of wind attacks, at the same time, she attacked with the same vigor, but no matter what damaged they cause neither of them were harmed. She tried a different tactic and went hand-to-hand combat but the white girl was more skilled at that field than she let on. Juvia grunted when a fist met her jaw sending her across the wall. Blood trickled at the side of her mouth and she ungraciously wiped it with the back of her hand.

The white girl chuckled "You've got some nerve there wench, I gotta give you that."

"Tch"

"Do you honestly think I could lose to someone like you? A useless piece of shit that doesn't know anything but to follow around her beloved Gray-sama…" at the last part she mimicked her way of saying his name "Like a sick and twisted puppy that would do anything for her master."

"J-Juvia's not like that…" she muttered.

"Pathetic! Weak-minded fool! You disgust me! You're sickening to the bone! Haven't you ever thought why the poor guy wouldn't return your feelings? Man! You are such an idiot!"

"T-That's not true…" she said, on the verge of tears.

"Stupid girls like you should just die. No wait. Girls like you deserve to be humiliated, and then hanged, then be chopped into pieces, thrown into a river and then die. Hahahaha!"

She gritted her teeth, she didn't mean to be annoying to Gray-sama, she only wanted to show him how much she loved him and hoping and praying that one day he would love her back. She was prepared to wait forever if that's what it took him to acknowledge her love, and she would sacrifice everything, even her own life just to achieve that kind of dream. But this girl doesn't understand anything; she doesn't understand what it's like to love and to hope that they could be loved back. No. She doesn't understand anything. But why did her words brought a sudden ache in her chest.

Still laughing, the white girl continued "Give it up b*tch, he will never love you back! Never!"

"SHUT UP!"

With the last of her strength, she mustered enough magic power for her attack.

"**WATER NEBULA!"**

She made the biggest water nebula she had ever created and aimed it at the white girl, but once again she dodged it.

"Ha! Some magic! Are you blind or what? You were hardly aiming at me."

"Juvia… wasn't aiming at you." she muttered as she fell on her knees.

Realization hit her like a gunshot and spun around, but whatever she was about to do was interrupted with Gray giving her a power kick in the stomach sending her crashing to the wall.

"W – ….What?"

"Thanks Juvia, although it took you a long time to free me, but still, I owe you one."

"G-Gray-sama…"

"B-Bastard!"

"Now then, let's finish the trash that insulted our guild. Juvia."

"Hai!"

Gray and Juvia stood in front of the white girl now battered up and barely standing, trembling in fear before them.

"Let's go…" then as one they both shouted.

"**MAGIC POWER FUSION!"**

The white girl trembled in fear; never had she faced anyone with a magic power this strong.

"M-Monster…"

"**UNISON RAID!"**

Pillars of water burst from the ground and shards of icicles rained on the white girl, at this point her magic power is depleted and so nothing can protect her now. She screamed in agony as thousands of icicles rained down upon her. When it was over she lay there, clothes tattered, cuts and blood in every part of her body and barely conscious. Her hood was drawn back and so her long, silver white hair splayed around her, in some parts covered in blood. But her mask was still intact much to Gray's dismay. He should make a move and remove it so he could finally see her real identity, but looking at her struggling to keep her eyes open he couldn't make himself to do it. The only thing he could do is remember those deep amethyst eyes that make you feel lost in them whenever you look. Somehow he felt guilty for what he'd done, she may have almost killed him and his friends but she may be just a pawn in some whacked out conspiracy. But even if that was the case, the fact is that they almost died because of her, such a thing was not easy to forgive. No. This girl deserves to suffer. His thoughts were interrupted with a soft chuckle coming from the girl.

"….What…. What are you…?"

It seems like a silly question since she already knew who they were in the first place, but seeing that she's slowly dying right now he couldn't blame her.

"We are Fairy Tail wizards… a guild that treats each other like a family…. you've hurt our family… and we will never forgive you for that."

"Heh… Sounds like a really fun guild…"

"It is."

To his surprise, the white girl started dissipating.

"O-oy… your body… it's…"

"Ah… A side effect from overuse of magic, even if it's borrowed, I used it too much and this is what happens."

Gray stayed silent and just stood there, along with Juvia, watching the girl slowly disappear.

"Whew, well that was fun, playing with you guys…" she gave them a grin "but my job here is done."

"Job?" Juvia asked.

"Wait a sec.!" Gray more alarmed by her last words "What do you mean job? You mean there's something bigger going on in here?!"

But the only answer he got was a weak chuckle.

"Hey Ice pop… do me a favor and put some clothes on… you're making my last image of this world a ridiculous joke."

"Tch."

"Oh, and one more thing… I know it's too much to ask but…"

"…"

"If we ever meet again in the future… please be nice to me… 'Coz… I would love to join that guild of yours…"

Her last words made him more confused than ever. Meet again? She could hardly speak!

"What do you mean by that?" Juvia asked.

"Dunno. Figure it out yourselves."

"Oy! Teme! Just what are you playing here?"

"(Chuckles) Such simpletons…. Well then… See'ya…"

"W-!"

Whatever he was gonna say was lost in his mouth when the white girl finally dispersed into nothing. They bowed in silence to pay respect for the dead as the last bit of dust from where she disintegrated floated on the air. Then as if breaking from a nightmare, the walls cracked and shattered revealing their friends and the golden road once again. They all blinked in surprised as their eyes adjusted to the sudden lighting. Obviously hours had passed since their so called test because the sun was just setting in the horizon, and yet they haven't found the princess.

"Lucy! Wendy! Charle!" shouted Happy

"Natsu-san! Everyone!" cried Wendy

"Gajeel-kun!" said Juvia

"Oy everyone!" said Gray

"What the hell happened?" asked Gajeel

All eyes looked at Gray and Juvia. Somehow they figured that whoever Gray had fought was the key to releasing the magic that encased them all.

"It's over. We beat the crap out of her."

"Whoo! That's what I'm talking about! Though I would prefer beating the crap outta her myself, but – wait a sec. What form did she take?"

"Form? She looks just the same to me."

"Ha?!" they all exclaimed.

"What the –? Don't tell me she took on different forms for each of you?" asked Gray

All heads nod in unison.

"She took on Lucy's form!"

"Aye sir!"

"She took on Natsu and Wendy's form."

"Hai… it's a like a nightmare." whispered Wendy

"She took on Levy's form. Right, Gajeel?"

"Hm…"

"Wait, so you're saying I'm the only one who took on her original form? Why's that? And why did she disguise as one of our friends?"

"She said the magic she cast on us allows her to look into our hearts and see the person we are afraid to hurt. That's why she took on different disguises. But why did Gray fight her in her original form? Could it be that Gray knows her in some way?" said Happy.

All eyes once again looked at Gray, including Juvia, who was wondering the same thing too.

This just kept getting weirder for Gray. First they found a weird village with animals as their citizens, next they got trap in some weird cage made of wind, and then he had to battle a cute girl who's ridiculously strong and had amazing magic power and now his friends are accusing him of knowing someone he never met. How troublesome is this day gonna get? And where the hell is that stupid princess anyway?

"Look. I know what you guys think but believe me I don't know anyone that looks like her or that uses advanced whatever type of magic just like hers. I don't even know her name!"

"Are you sure you haven't met her somewhere?" asked Natsu

"No. Like I said, I don't know anyone that looks like her."

"Natsu, that's enough. What's important is that we're all safe." scolded Lucy

"I couldn't agree more." said Charle.

"It's getting dark now, why don't we make camp here?" asked Lily.

"Yeah!" they said in unison.

As the group prepared to make camp, Lily pulled Gajeel aside, into the dark forest and talked to him in whispered manner.

"Gajeel, talk to me."

"About what?"

"You know what I mean…"

"I don't –"

"That girl with the black hair that fought you, who was she? And don't tell me you don't know her, I saw your face that time, you look like you've seen a ghost, and I can tell that up until now you're still troubled by it."

Damn it. Does nothing ever escape Pantherlily? Well that's his cat for you. He could probably beat a whole battalion of monsters and still have the energy to interrogate him. Well then if he's asking him about this then that means he also noticed what happened earlier. The sudden shift from Levy to 'her' and then back to Levy. It's true that he was haunted by the image of her again, seeing her in person even if it's just a disguise, but that was enough to throw him off guard and stabbed him right at his side. Good thing they have Wendy. But still, he couldn't shake off the jumbled mess of feelings whenever he thought about their encounter.

"_I'll send your regards to Nightmare once I'm done with you"_

"_Nightmare… is the one who's leading this ambush"_

"_She's our boss's right hand woman"_

"Gajeel?"

He snapped out of his current thoughts and looked at Lily who was patiently waiting for him to reply. Damn it! First the haunting thoughts and the messed up emotions, and now he's completely zoning out! This has definitely been a long day.

"We'll talk about this later when everyone's asleep. But for now, why don't you have Wendy heal your wounds first?"

"You're pretty injured too you know?"

"Yeah, but nothing that I can't handle" He patted his head "Go on, you go first I'll… catch up with you later."

Lily looked at him worriedly

"Hey now, don't give me that… I just… wanted to be alone right now…"

For the record, this is the first he heard him like this, so sad and lonely. With a nod, he reminded Gajeel one more time that they're going to talk about this later and then went off, probably looking for Wendy to heal him. When he was finally alone he let out a shaky breath and let his face fall in his hands. He felt like he was so exhausted, not because of his battle but because of all the pent up emotions that started stirring within him the moment he saw her. Stupid universe and their games! Just when he thought he could finally move on the inevitable happens. This is why he hated to be involved with women; they only make your lives more complicated. And now the only women he swore to forget has come haunting right on his doorstep. Can't he just get a more peaceful life? Well it can't be helped. He knew someone would find out one way or another, he just didn't expect it to be Lily. It can't be helped, if her ex is somewhat part of this shit, then it's possible that the others might find out about his connection. Until then he have to prepare a perfect explanation for them, one that wouldn't drive Natsu and Gray to a killing spree and make him the target, those two idiots won't understand anything if he doesn't explain it carefully. Heaving a sigh of defeat, he just stared up at the black sky and admired the star that he's always fond of looking whenever he's troubled. Little did he know that far away from where they made camp was another person looking at the same star out in the night sky.

Late in the night when Lily was sure that everyone was asleep, he went out into the dark forest where he saw Gajeel went not long after. Honestly, he couldn't get his partner sometimes, he sees him as someone who holds a lot of secrets and yet he could be open when asked the right questions. He must've got it from his old guild. He walked farther into the forest until he came to a clearing, here the sky looks blacker than usual and the stars are infinite, it would've been beautiful if not for the lone figure lying in the middle, staring up at the vast sky. Afraid he might startle him he slowly approached and sat down on the grassy area beside him. If there's one thing that he wasn't so good at, it's having a heart-to-heart talk with another person, or whatever they're trying to do. He waited patiently for him to speak. He may be a bit nosy at times but he knew how to wait until that person could be comfortable in speaking their heart out.

"Nightmare"

"What?"

He was expecting he would answer his earlier question but he didn't expect Gajeel to start off their conversation with a dream.

"You had a nightmare?"

"No. Her name is Nightmare."

Now that's the first he's heard of it. Honestly? Who would name someone from a scary dream?

"And?"

He waited for him to say, but what he said next scared the living hell out of him.

"She was my girlfriend..."

Those four words were what made him stunned. Never had he envisioned Gajeel ever having a girlfriend, sure he and Levy are getting closer than usual but still, Gajeel with a girlfriend? Never.

"We met when I was still in Phantom Lord, about two years ago. She went in and declared to have a fight with one of our strongest members, said she wanted to see if we are a worthy guild. Of course, there are hundreds of us who were strong and there's only one of her. They all charged at her and she beated them one by one. I guess you could say that's when I fell for her. She had this charm on her that's both deadly and hot, plus she's breathtakingly sexy."

Lily sweat dropped at that last part. To be honest, the word 'sexy' doesn't sound right coming from Gajeel.

"She defeated everyone until I'm the only one left."

"So... What d'you do?"

"I took her challenge and beated her mercilessly."

"...!"

"She was good, I can admit that. But after fighting all of those guys, I don't think she has enough strength to fight anymore."

"Ah. So you took advantage of it."

"Yeah, you could say that... but what's the point of challenging a whole guild if you don't have enough stamina for it?"

'_Fair point.'_ he silently agreed.

"Anyway, she wanted a rematch but I told her to come back and get stronger otherwise it'll just be the same."

"The next day, however, she came back and joined the guild. I didn't accept her at first but for some reason she ended being my partner, and after that she became my best friend, and then my-..."

"Girlfriend?"

"...Yeah..."

More silence, somehow Lily is at a loss for words, he wasn't sure what to say after hearing something like that.

"So... How'd she end up being our enemy?"

"The day that I... uhh assaulted Fairy Tail, we had a little argument."

"Little?"

"Okay, a big fight, the biggest one we'd ever had. I didn't know what her problem was. She just started being bitchy and it sort of ticked me off. What I didn't know was that she already asked our master to resign. When I found out I got angrier at her."

"And like the bitch she is, she just shrugged off my reaction as if it were nothing."

"What d'you do?"

"I asked her if she still... you know, l-love me... 'Coz I don't know what she feels anymore, and you know what she told me?"

"She told me what an idiot I was for assuming something like that."

Ouch.

"And just like that she left me, without so much as an apology."

"Gajeel..."

"The last time I saw her was when Fairy Tail attacked Phantom Lord, she used that moment to leave so that no one would notice, but I did. I saw her when she left and she knew that I did, but she never looked back, not even to say goodbye."

"Gajeel..."

"I've had dreams after that, dreams about what would become of us she hadn't left me. I couldn't sleep, couldn't eat properly. Even when I joined Fairy Tail I still felt broken, like I'll never be complete. Like I'll -"

"Gajeel." he holds on to his shoulder to stop from trembling, "That's enough."

Gajeel hadn't realized he'd started crying.

"You don't have to push yourself."

"Nope." he said, wiping his eyes, "That's pretty much the whole story, after that I swore to myself to never love again."

"That's impossible, you can't stop feelings."

"Not if I can help it" he stood up "It's late, we should get some rest, don't wanna be tired when we fight that witch tomorrow."

"Wouldn't count on it, you're probably excited about the whole idea you won't even sleep for a minute."

"Gihi... Well, Then I'd better hit the haystack. Goodnight, Lily."

"Goodnight, Gajeel."

He started walking off but stopped to say one more thing to Lily.

"Lily?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't tell anyone. Promise me that."

He was worried he might tell Natsu or Gray when the time comes but he would rather tell them himself.

"I promise" he heard him say.

Feeling relieved, he continued on back to their camp to have a goodnight's rest.


	7. Dreams and Visions

**AN: I'm back, and I have no excuse. Sorry for taking so long, I got sidetracked. But! Here it is, finally, a new chapter plus I've edited the old chapters and did a few tweaks here and there... Well then, as usual, please review and ENJOY!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail**

Chapter 7

Dreams and Visions

Something seems wrong.

The moment he opened his eyes he knew something was wrong. Last he checked he was sleeping beside his exceed and his friends after succeeding an epic battle with a Levy clone, and now he was tied to a metal pole - crucifix style. He tugged at his arms – no good, he was tied really tight. He pondered over his surroundings trying to remember how the hell he ended up like that. He seems to be inside a room, the kind where you'd think a celebrity sleeps; everywhere he looked its all velvet - velvet walls, velvet chairs, velvet furniture, even the bed! But there are no signs of doors anywhere.

'_What the hell?'_ he thought. And the worst part, everything is red!

"Oi oi oi... What kind of a sick joke is this? This isn't even funny!" he shouted.

"That's because it's not meant to be funny..."

He tensed. He knew that voice anywhere. It's the same one from two years ago and from the clone that disguised her.

"Foxy~…"

From one side of the room where a curtain hung emerged a tall woman in black leather clothing.

Before, he was tense, now he's shaking like a leaf. He's sweating like crazy too. Man, after all these years she still had this effect on him.

"N-nightmare..."

"Been a while, Foxy~"

Foxy. His old nickname, no doubt about it, it really is her. She's the only person who could have the balls to call him that name. He stared at her face. It's been two years but he could still remember everything about her like it was yesterday –her black hair in a cocktail's bun, porcelain cheeks, sculpted nose, pink lips in a know-it-all smirk and blood-red eyes. He stared at her eyes a little longer than he intended to. There's no mistaking it, he didn't know how but somehow he got the feeling that this is the real Nightmare standing right before him. When he realized he was staring at her for too long he let his gaze drop, and that's when he knew something is definitely wrong.

"What the hell are you wearing?" he asked, surprised at the sight of her body.

"Hm?" She looked down at herself "Oh! This. This is nothing. I thought it would be best to play with you for a while before going down to business." she shrugged.

He could feel himself heating up. What with her clothes, who wouldn't? Instead of her usual zip-up tube, bolero, mini shorts and her thigh-high boots, she wore a black leather corset dress and fishnet stockings. She still had on her thigh-high boots but clipped to her left side he could see there was a leather whip with a metal tip.

"Play with me? What -?" He couldn't finish what he was saying because all of a sudden Nightmare had her hand over his mouth, shutting him up.

"Shhh… That's enough. I'll do all the talking, you just relax…"

She ran a hand over his chest and stomach feeling the rock-hard abs underneath the clothing. Chills ran up his spine as he felt fire burning in his skin from where she touched. He tried to protest but Nightmare made sure his mouth is clamped shut. With no choice left he just let her do whatever it is she was doing to him. Nightmare gave him a triumphant smirk seemingly pleased that things will be going her way. As Gajeel tried to think of an escape plan she brought her lips close to his letting him feel her hot breath over his anticipating lips, then without warning she kissed him hungrily like how a mad woman would kiss her long lost lover. Gajeel shut his eyes tightly trying to neglect the overwhelming feeling growing inside his chest.

'_Don't fall for her charms! It's obviously a trick. Don't you even dare fall for it, Gajeel!'_ he kept chanting to himself still refusing to succumb to her attempts at seducing him. So far it worked, until she bit his lower lip.

"Dammit!" he shouted and then started kissing her back with the same hunger as she did before.

Complete surprise was etched on her face and she faltered for a few seconds before recovering. Clearly she didn't expect him to respond but since it has come to that she didn't back down from his challenge. She kissed him with the same hunger and passion he was giving her and soon their tongues danced in a beautiful rhythm powered by the feeling they were both experiencing at the moment. Finally, at the same time they both broke for air. Both were breathing heavily after so many minutes of passionate kissing. Gajeel stared at her eyes and saw how hungry she'd been after being separated for two years; no doubt, from the way that her breath hitched when he stared he could tell that he was displaying the same hungry eyes like hers. Not able to take it any longer, he went to kiss her neck but Nightmare avoided it. He looked at her confused but she just tsked and wagged a finger at him. When he got the message he chuckled and leaned back at the metal pole, Nightmare on the other hand, smirked and went to kiss his neck. She started with his jaws then went lower to his neck biting and sucking along the way. He shivered when her breath touched his skin; then she raised her lips to his ear lobe.

"Are you enjoying this, Foxy?" she bit his ear lobe and ran her tongue over it.

"F*ck yes…" he growled.

"Do you want more?" she asked in a husky voice.

He couldn't concentrate; his mind seems to wander over the fact that Nightmare – the girl who almost ruined him, is making out with him.

"I said do you want more?" this time it came out as a growl, irritation seeping into her voice.

"Yes."

That was all he could say before something covered his eyes. '_What the –?!' _he thought. When she asked that question he didn't expect to be blindfolded. Is this a game? After all, Nightmare loves to play games. His thoughts were interrupted at the sound of cloth ripping, he suddenly felt cold over the upper part of his body and that's when he realized that the cloth that ripped was actually his shirt.

"What the hell?!" he exclaimed.

"Relax." He heard her say. He then heard a click of a buckle and something uncoiling. A belt? No. He clearly remembered she wasn't wearing any belt before. So what was it? Then he remembered that thing attached to her side.

"What the fu –!" his mouth was again covered by Nightmare.

"Shhh… Relax…" she chuckled "This wouldn't hurt a bit."And he felt the first bite of the whip.

He screamed in pain. Wouldn't hurt? Like hell it wouldn't! It hurts like a b*tch dammit! Now he understood what kind of 'business' she was talking about. How did he _not _see this coming? Oh yeah, 'coz he was busy making out with her. Those two years of pent up emotion that got him to lower his guard and this is what happens. Gajeel swore, when he got out of this shit he is definitely going to hunt her down.

Over and over again Nightmare kept chanting the same words to him and at the same time she kept lashing down on him. Gajeel bit down on his lower lip to keep himself from screaming. He was completely helpless, tied to a pole, unsurprisingly unable to use his magic, plus, he was blindfolded which made things worse and had no idea what's going on in his surroundings.

Nightmare cackled "You want more, Gajeel?! You said you want more right?!" she laughed.

"B*tch!" he growled sweat dripping from his forehead.

"Shut up." She lashed down at him again. He couldn't pinpoint her exact location because she's hitting him from different places, whether from the front or back or from the sides he couldn't tell.

"This is what happens to stupid flies like you who play right into the spider's trap! Now, I'll have you experience hell!"

She kept on lashing down at him. Gajeel thought about his encounter with the clone about what she said to him.

"_Nightmare… is the one who's leading this ambush"_

"_She's our boss's right hand woman"_

Huh. No doubt about that. Whoever this woman is, she isn't the same woman he loved two years ago. Right now, she is an enemy that needs to be stopped.

"Why?" he manage to say despite the pain he was receiving.

"Ehhh… What's that you say?" she asked in a mocking tone.

"Why… are you doing this? What… What happened?" he breathed heavily.

"What are you talking about? I've always been like this."

"No. You're not. I know you Nightmare." He tried tugging on his arms once again hoping that this moment of distraction would be his chance of escaping.

"No. You don't. Clearly you don't know me well enough." She grabbed his face and forced him to face her way. "I've always wanted power; you were too in love with me to even see that. That's the reason why I left. And now that I've attained this power, you come and try to stop me."

She tightened her hold on his face and dug her nails in until blood came out. "I won't let you foil my plans, even if it means killing you and your damn friends, I won't let you!"

She let go of him and was relieved when she finally removed his blindfold. It took all of his self-control not to scream when he saw his own body – cuts and blood everywhere. There was hardly any skin left and blood was still seeping out from some wounds. He let out a shaky breath and swallowed, forcing himself to remain calm and to not give this woman the satisfaction of seeing him horrified. Then he felt her hover her hand over his forehead.

"This'll serve as a warning to you and your friends on what's up ahead." she said nonchalantly then she smirked "Sweet dreams, Gajeel."

At first nothing happened, and then he felt it. Pain shot through every part of his body especially in his head. He saw a magic circle form in front of him and his magic was seeping out from his head and went through Nightmare's hand. He screamed in agony as felt his magic getting drained. This kind of pain is different than he felt before. It felt like even his life source is being sucked dry. He could now see spots and his vision is getting blurry making it hard to focus on the woman in front of him. After a few moments his vision started fading. She's even draining his senses, he thought or was this how death is like? He couldn't care anymore, for his vision is already fading into a dark background. He willed himself not to succumb to the darkness but he had no energy left. Just before he surrendered himself he saw her lips move and heard the faint incantation that escaped her lips.

"**DRAIN"**

Then there was nothing but darkness.

He shot up from his sleep, eyes wide in fear and sweat dripping from his forehead; he was cold and trembling all over. _Was it all just a dream?'_ He thought, '_it felt so real.'_ He lifted up his shirt to see if there are any wound marks only to find clean smooth skin. He touched his chest and stomach as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. He could've sworn that dream was real and he felt the bite of the whip, but seeing his skin he felt more confused than ever. But that wasn't any ordinary dream, what Nightmare was trying to say was a warning for all of them, a dream like that it has to be shared with the others otherwise they would be walking in a death trap, but why would Nightmare warn them? She is after all her boss's right-hand woman, whoever this boss is; wouldn't he be happy that they'd rather fall into their traps? So why warn them? He had so many questions to ask and the only one who can answer them is the enemy itself. Whatever this is, there's only one thing he knew, something big is happening and it could harm the lives of his friends. What started out to be a simple rescue turned out to be something sinister and only he was aware of that. He decided he wouldn't tell the others of his dream, only Lily. He needs to analyze it first and what it means or he'll just worry the others, and he'll have Lily to help him. He got up and went out from his tent; it was bright outside and the sun is already high in the sky. How long had he been asleep? He looked around and saw Lily chatting with the other two exceeds.

"Lily" he approached him.

"Glad to see you're awake. How's your sleep?"

For a moment he couldn't put into words whatever he was about to say. He knew he could trust Lily, especially now that he knows his secret past relationship but somehow he justcouldn't bring himself to tell him about the dream.

"It was okay." He muttered

Lily looked at him skeptically. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

"Nothing" he lied, "Just hungry, that's all."

From the look that Lily gave him mean that he was not convinced. He didn't think he would, but he just shrugged off his concern and went to eat breakfast instead. He wouldn't tell them yet. He'll just have to see this through the end and figure if it's real or not. No use in troubling them with things he doesn't understand himself. When the team finished eating and fixing up their injuries they tried to formulate a strategy on how to deal with the enemy.

"I say we charge at her with all we've got! That way she wouldn't have the time to counterattack!" boasted Natsu.

"Says the guy who couldn't even punch a fake clone the first time."

"You saying something, ice pop?"

"Who're you calling ice pop, flame brain?"

"Gray-sama, your clothes…"

"Gah!"

"Enough!" exclaimed Charle "We need to be serious here people! We need to form a strategy on how to defeat this witch."

"Considering the attack yesterday, we would assume that casting a spell to know our weaknesses is one of her abilities" said the black exceed.

"Not to mention the advanced Wind magic" Wendy added.

"Gray, you've fought her head-on, how was she in battle?" asked Lucy

"Pretty much like an S-class mage, unexpectedly strong and skilled, she's also kinda fond of using tornadoes as a form of weapon and shield."

"If Juvia may add, Juvia has also battled with her up close and from Juvia's observation, the white girl is quite skilled in hand-to-hand combat, also, the white girl has the same body as Juvia, only wind."

"So piercing attacks won't work?" asked Lucy

"Unless she's run out of magic" replied Gray

"Okay. Here's what I suggest. We group ourselves into two – one team would act as a decoy and engage her in battle until she's used up all her magic, when that happens the second team would deliver the finishing blow and Bam! We kill the witch" said Natsu.

Everyone was silent for a moment until Lucy spoke up.

"That… might actually work"

"Who knew the idiot would come up with something like that?" teased Gajeel

"Congratulations, Idiot. You really do have a brain" said Gray while clapping him at the back.

As Natsu argued with Gajeel and Gray, Charle stayed silent, lost in her own thoughts. Wendy noticed this and knew immediately what it was that bothered her.

"Charle, did you have a vision?"

She nodded "Just now."

"What did you see?"

She was silent for a moment trying to make sense of the vision herself. She touched her head the way she always did when having her visions and spoke in a hushed voice.

"I saw a tower and a village dissipating, a creature running through the woods, an angry Lucy hoisting an unconscious Natsu on her back, and –"

She paused. Honestly speaking, she couldn't even believe about that last part.

Wendy pressed on "And?"

"Gajeel battered and bruised, crying over a person slowly fading away."

Wendy was surprised at that last part. It's true that Charle's visions are just possibilities of happening in the future but knowing someone as hard and tough as Gajeel crying is hard to believe.

"Shall we tell the others?" she asked.

"No. I don't think they'd believe any of it. Anyway, let's just focus on defeating this witch."

"Okay… If you say so" she said reluctantly.

And so they packed up their things and went on, excitement flashing on Natsu's face as they move towards their target waiting for them at the end of the road.

"They're coming…"


End file.
